0164 Aftermath

The effect was remarkable! 

Dumbledore's magic overpowered the raging fire, and the wall of fire which was as high as a city wall, was directly cut in half by his powerful spell. The flames roared and crackled, as if protesting against the intrusion, but they could not resist the force of the elder wand and its master. The wall of fire that seemed to have been watered with growth hormone regained its height, giving no one a chance to take advantage of the gap. 

Such a result, not to mention others, even Dumbledore's wise blue eyes became solemn, he looked through the narrow crack of the swaying fire at the 'dark' wizard outside the fire wall, and saw the dark wizard bow again, and then, in the deafening bang, he vanished completely! 

"Don't run, you coward!" 

Dawlish who was blindly Loyal to the Ministry of Magic and Minister Cornelius Fudge, could not accept such a result, he recklessly apparated to break through the barrier of the fire wall, but his move was undoubtedly very impulsive, not to mention the existence of the fire made the magic in this area in a very unstable state, on the fire wall, there was also Bryan's magic that prevented apparition. 

Dawlish's body just disappeared in the air, the next second, he was engulfed with pale fire by the distorted space and squeezed out, fell to the ground and wailed constantly. His skin was blistered and charred, and some parts of his clothes were burned to ashes. He writhed in agony, clutching his face and chest. 

Dumbledore's waving sleeves made a rustling sound, and the fire on Dawlish's body was drawn to the tip of Dumbledore's elder wand as if by some mysterious traction. The fire formed a thin stream of light, and flowed into the wand like liquid. While Snape rushed over and took out various potions to heal Dawlish, he focused on the fire that splashed like a fountain and scattered sparks all around, without saying a word. His black eyes were cold and sharp, as if he was trying to figure out the origin and nature of the fire. 

"Dumbledore–" 

Kingsley's voice was not as calm as before, his face was scorched by the unexpectedly stable fire, and his eyes showed strong anxiety, 

"I think you can handle these flames, right?" 

He looked around nervously, and saw that the other hit wizards were also in a state of shock and fear. Some of them had their hair and eyebrows singed, and some of them had their brooms damaged or destroyed by the fire. The scene was chaotic and messy, and the muggles nearby were screaming and running away. 

"It just takes a little time, Kingsley," 

Dumbledore glanced at Dawlish, who had recovered his breath with Snape's help, and the wrinkles on his forehead deepened. He looked at the cage-like wall of fire and said in a calm tone. 

Then, Dumbledore pointed his wand forward again, and in a whirring sound of air flow, the pale fire quickly faded, and after three or four seconds, it became transparent like clear water, and finally, disappeared completely. The heat and light that had filled the air also vanished, and the night sky returned to its normal darkness. 

"sssssssssss-"

The hit wizards who escaped from death breathed out like a car tire deflating, Tonks leaned on her own comet 260, which had already turned black, and subconsciously fiddled with her hair, but unexpectedly felt the moisture in her palm. She came back to her senses and found that her robe had been soaked with sweat! 

"Is there any way to catch up with him, Albus?"

Kingsley walked to Dumbledore's side and asked, his expression unwilling. He hated to let the dark wizard get away, especially after he had caused so much trouble and damage. He hoped that Dumbledore had some clues or methods to track him down. 

"I'm afraid it's very difficult, Kingsley–" 

Dumbledore stared at the place where the dark wizard had just stopped, and said thoughtfully, "That person erased all traces of his magic when he apparated away, even I–" 

He stopped abruptly, and looked at his shoulder. Fawkes tilted his head and gently pecked Dumbledore's cheek, his gem-like eyes flickering, as if questioning him. 

Dumbledore calmly looked at Fawkes, then turned his gaze to the alley where 'Black' was first discovered, and when he noticed the ground that was turned upside down and the roof of the muggle room that was like blown away by the typhoon, his expression became a bit more solemn, 

"Now, what I want to know more is, how many people have been hurt." 

Ten minutes later, Tonks brought the answer to this question. 

"–Undersecretary Umbridge stopped the muggle government people, Mr. Crouch is directing the new team that used to handle accidental magical events to erase the memories of Muggles, and the Office of Misuse of Magic is also helping. The muggles were scared, but only two of them twisted their legs when they went downstairs–" 

She reported in a breathless voice, her face pale and tired. She had been busy dealing with the aftermath of the incident, and she had seen many frightened and confused faces. She felt sorry for them, and angry at the dark wizard who had caused this mess. 

"What about the situation at the Ministry of Magic?" 

Dumbledore was unmoved and continued to ask.

"Some guys fainted when they fell from their flying brooms, but they are all awake now, anyway, no one is seriously injured!"

Tonks looked at Dawlish, who was sitting on the ground, with a bandage wrapped around his arm, and his face pale with pain, and showed some sympathy. 

Including Kingsley, all the Ministry of Magic hit wizards fell silent, and no one thought that this result was just brought by luck. Before this operation, none of them had drunk Felix Felicis, the potion that gave good fortune to the drinker. 

They had not expected to face such a powerful and mysterious opponent, who had escaped from their siege with ease. A bold and reckless dark wizard, actually spared the elite wizards screened out by the Ministry of Magic, who specialized in dealing with tough criminals. This was simply a great shame! They felt humiliated and frustrated, and they did not know how to explain their failure to the public and the press. 

"Very well–" 

Dumbledore nodded, as if he had expected this result. 

"I just came from the muggle Prime Minister, asking him to cooperate with the Ministry of Magic's actions!" 

Wrapped in a striped cloak, wearing pajamas inside, Cornelius Fudge appeared here, at least this time he did not wear that ridiculous dark green hat, his messy gray hair exposed to the air, from the panic look, he was in a very anxious situation, "Dolores sent me a message, she said you think that person is not Black? That's terrible. One Black has already made us miserable, and now another one comes out!" 

Fudge's voice was loud and shrill, and he seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown.

He had been under a lot of pressure lately, as the Ministry of Magic had been unable to find Black, who had escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban a month ago. The public was outraged and terrified. Fudge had hoped that this operation would end the crisis, and that he would be able to restore his reputation and authority. He had not expected that the dark wizard they had been chasing was not Black, but someone else, someone who was even more dangerous and elusive.

The shocking cracks on the ground made Fudge gasp, his eyes quickly swept over the Ministry of Magic's wizards, and even Dawlish, who was seriously injured, did not make his eyes pause, 

"He ran away, right, Dumbledore, right under your nose?" 

Fudge wiped the sweat dripping from his head, he looked up incredulously at Dumbledore, but his tone seemed to blame him for not doing his duty, 

"What will people say about us, Dumbledore, it's been more than a month, and we haven't found Black, and now a dark wizard who doesn't know where he came from has turned the world upside down under the eyes of more than fifty Ministry of Magic elites and Dumbledore, if people run away in panic, I won't be surprised at all!" 

Fudge's upper lip curled up, and he didn't realize that his own performance would increase people's panic, "–We have to have a good talk, Dumbledore, we have to think of an excuse that people can accept, and the muggles, I didn't know the situation before I came here, I told the muggle Prime Minister that we were about to catch Black." 

"I think you can stick to this statement, Cornelius." 

Dumbledore had no patience to listen to Fudge's nagging, he said in a serious tone with impatience, "If you can't find a way to keep people calm, then keep the Daily Prophet quiet, or promote that the dark wizard who appeared tonight is Black, both are good ways. Sorry, Cornelius, I have something to check personally now, I have to leave-, Severus?" 

Dumbledore looked at Snape, and asked with his eyes about Dawlish's injury. He saw that Snape had done a good job of healing Dawlish, and that he had used various potions and spells to ease his pain and prevent infection. 

"No problem." 

Snape put away his bottles and jars, stood up and said concisely with a cold face. 

Fawkes spread his brilliant wings and covered Dumbledore and Snape, and in Fudge's astonished gaze and the puzzled look of the Ministry of Magic hit wizards, he quickly dropped a sentence, 'If you have any questions, you can write to me', and then, with a soft sound, disappeared from Grimmauld Place.

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